Creative employment programme funding for Farnham Maltings for young people internships in South East and East of England

Farnham Maltings, an Arts Council England National portfolio organisation, will offer 16 paid internships thanks to funding from Arts Council England's Creative employment programme, announced today.

The Creative employment programme is a £15 million fund to support the creation of traineeships, formal apprenticeship and paid internship opportunities for young unemployed people aged 16 to 24 wishing to pursue a career in the arts and cultural sector. The fund is facilitated by National Provider Creative & Cultural Skills on behalf of the Arts Council.

Farnham Maltings is one of 13 organisations nationally to receive funding in the first round of the programme, which will create 129 apprenticeships and 40 paid internships for unemployed young people in the arts and cultural sector.

The 16 internships will be based at one of 11 organisations who are members of house, an Arts Council funded programme designed to support venues to increase audiences and improve the range, quality and scale of theatre presented across South East and Eastern England.

Another recipient, national youth music education provider Academy of Music and Sound, will create 80 apprenticeships in Music Instrument Retail Stores across the country including the South East.

Successful applicants will receive part wage funding to create an exciting range of positions including roles in live events, community arts, technical theatre, festival design, cultural heritage, arts administration, and digital marketing.

Round two of Creative Employment Programme is now open, and employers will need to make an application to Creative & Cultural Skills to access a part wage grant.

The deadline for funding round three is Friday 7 June 2013. The fund runs every five weeks, and there are 20 rounds in total.

For organisations thinking about applying to the scheme, Creative & Cultural Skills is running a series of roadshows in May and June in London and Brighton.

These events are taking place in Brighton on 21 May 2013 at Jubilee Library, in East London on 29 May 2013 at Stratford Circus, and in West London on 13 June 2013 at, V&A Museum.

Gavin Stride, Director of Farnham Maltings and Chair of house steering group, says, 'We are all too aware of the challenges facing young people in developing a career in the arts, so anything we can do to open our doors and create some supported opportunities is a delight. This particular proposal will support a number of young people across the South East, from Kings Lynn to the Isle of Wight.'

Claire Toogood, Relationship Manager, Learning, South East, Arts Council England says, 'We are delighted to see in this first round a strong offer from the house network, creating a number of new employment opportunities for young people across the East and South East. The Creative employment programme provides a great support for individual and group applicants who feel their business could benefit from employing a young person as an apprentice or intern. We look forward to seeing many more opportunities open up for young people, and real benefits to arts organisations, as the programme continues.'

Catherine Large, Joint CEO, Creative & Cultural Skills, said: 'We are thrilled that employers from all over the country and right across the sector are already taking up this great opportunity to bring new talent into their workforces. These organisations are creating the jobs they need at a time when young people are in need, and this is just the beginning. With another 19 funding rounds still to come over the next two years we have a real chance to invest in changing the way our sector recruits and trains its future workforce.'